Full or partial dentures are intended to be worn in the mouth to replace missing teeth. Like teeth, dentures should be cleaned regularly to maintain good oral health. Like teeth, dentures should also be cleaned regularly for cosmetic reasons, for example to maintain fresh breath.
Unlike teeth, dentures can be removed for cleaning. Dentures are also made of durable materials, such as acrylic polymers, that can withstand relatively harsh cleaning conditions. As a result, dentures can be, and sometimes are, exposed to harsh cleaning conditions. Dentures are typically cleaned in one of two ways, either the dentures are soaked for some time in a cleansing bath or dentures are brushed with dentifrices or specially formulated cleansing creams.
Brushing with creams has the advantage of supplementing the cleaning formulation with mechanical action. Unfortunately, as with teeth, spots on the dentures can be missed or overlooked during the brushing process. As a result, the denture material can degrade over time, and remaining teeth and gums of the user may be exposed to disease agents and undesirable cosmetic consequences.
Soaking in a cleansing bath offers the advantage of reaching every part of a denture for cleaning. Full immersion of the denture in the bath allows the cleansing composition to reach areas that can not be reached by ordinary brushing with creams. Cleansing baths are not usually sold as such. Typically, the active ingredients are sold in solid form, as a denture cleanser powder or tablet, or in concentrated liquid form. The active ingredients are then dissolved in a water bath to form the cleansing bath.
Unfortunately, soaking surrenders the advantage of mechanical scrubbing found with creams and dentifrices. To compensate for this loss of mechanical cleaning, denture cleansing tablets and powders usually contain an effervescent system and strong chemical cleaning agents. Strong chemical cleaning agents, such as bleaches, can impart an unpleasant taste or odor to soaked dentures, however. Thus, denture cleanser manufacturers face a trade off between efficacy and cosmetic and organoleptic considerations.
Sprayable denture cleansers are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,808,686 and 3,822,212. U.S. Pat. No. 4,511,486, issued Apr. 16, 1985, to Shah, discloses a foamable liquid denture cleanser comprising a surfactant, humectant, water and an appreciable amount of ethanol or isopropanol. The alcohol is used as a solubilizer for various excipients, as a component which imparts a fresh-tasting feel to the cleansed denture and to provide an antibacterial effect.
None of these methods provide for prolonged breath freshening, in particular for denture wearers. Denture wearers complain that their dentures give off an unpleasant odor, often called “denture breath”. Products currently on the market require prolonged cleaning times, such as with soaking, without providing prolonged benefits such as a fresh mouth-taste and fresh breath. In many cases denture wearers must resort to brushing their dentures with regular toothpaste to keep dentures/breath fresh which can lead to scratching of the denture surface due to the abrasivity of toothpaste. In addition, since these methods do not provide for prolonged fresh breath, the denture wearer often resorts to cleaning the dentures multiple times per day which is inconvenient and stigmatizing.
Finding a denture cleanser that is applied easily and does not require extended cleansing times while maintaining prolonged fresh breath is an ongoing task. Acceptable agents must be non-toxic, non-staining, non-abrasive and water dispersible. In addition, the cleanser should be easy to dispense and apply to the dentures, and provide a clean denture in as few steps as possible. Maintaining prolonged fresh breath effects without having to clean the dentures multiple times per day is extremely desirable. Such a cleanser would be useful for other dental appliance wearers.